Artist Sarah Evans, 25, who lives on Merseybank, Chorlton, is collecting tales of love, lust and dating from bus passengers.

She gives out stamped, addressed postcards on the 85 and 86 route for people to fill in and send back to her.

She began her ‘Kiss My Heart’ project on Valentine’s Day and has been collecting real life love stories ever since.

Sarah intends to run the project for five years, giving out 5,000 postcards in the process, and all the anonymous love stories she collects will be used in her artwork.

"Some of the stories I have had back so far have made me cry," said Sarah, who studied media and performance at Salford University.

"I have had stories about how couples met, people spending their whole lives together, even their spouses dying.

"A recent one I received was about a couple who went to a gig together and as the spotlights came on and this person held their partner in their arms they said they suddenly realised they were in love.

"Some people have really opened up and reading about those moments is amazing."

Sarah’s main method of collecting the love stories has been to ask people on the 85 and 86 bus routes to take part as she travels in and out of the city centre.

"People have been surprised when I’ve asked them to do it," she said.

"But no-one has ever said no."

In case she doesn’t meet you on the bus, Sarah also has an email address which people can send their anonymous stories to.

The stories she has collected so far will be performed at an arts event held on October 3 at The Green Room in the city centre.

"I will have a tent there, and people can queue up to come in and hear one of the love stories," she said.

"Each story will only be told once so people will know that only they will ever hear that story.

"Some of the postcards will also be put together to form an installation later this year."

Sarah’s fascination with love, lust and relationships has also informed a one-woman play which will be performed every Monday at Trof in Fallowfield during October as part of Manchester Comedy Festival.

‘The Speed of Dating’ follows hapless character Alice through a series of excruciating, and often hilarious, dating disasters, heavily influenced by Sarah’s years living as a student in Manchester.

"I would say that a lot of my work is influenced by love and lust, which are a common theme in everybody’s lives, but in very different ways," she said.

"I want to explore how people of different genders and cultures experience it, but when you boil it down I think everything comes down to the two themes of love and justice, and we base our lives around those things."